Great Gamification Debate (GDC)

I am not travelling to the US personally, but here is something that looks very interesting in this year’s Game Developers Conference: The Great Gamification Debate, featuring (taken from the GDC 2011 Schedule):

SPEAKER/S: Jesse Schell (Schell Games), Ben Sawyer (Digitalmill), Jane McGonigal (Institute for the Future), Ian Bogost (The Georgia Institute of Technology), Noah Falstein (The Inspiracy), Margaret Robertson (Hide&Seek), Ross Smith (Microsoft) and Margaret Wallace (Playmatics)DAY / TIME / LOCATION: TBD TRACK / FORMAT: Serious Games Summit / PanelDESCRIPTION: Only platform FanBoy wars have created a more passionate debate then the overall fracus between gamification’s current proponents and its detractors. Strong opinions exist on both sides of the pro/con debate that it seems suitable to have an actual honest debate over the merits, incarnations, and future of gamification. Featuring a who’s who of passionate GDC regulars and gamification developers who’ve deployed actual solutions into the field, this session will provide a unique debate format hosted by the Serious Games Summit advisory board and moderated by Noah Falstien of The Inspiracy. Assigning sides via a coin-toss to force each participant to prepare arguments for and against despite their own heartfelt positions The Great Gamification Debate will present all attendees with a deep critical analysis of the emergent space’s strengths and weaknesses. Both sides will compete to win the debate. Once the final opinion is fielded and a winner is declared each participant will be allowed a final closing moment to speak to whatever personal opinion they still hold but were unable to express in the heat of competition.